Colin Montgomerie came in like a man on the edge of a nervous breakdown. It just happened to be Corey Pavin's.

'Crazy' Pavin had made some weird moves in the previous hour and the Scot wanted to nudge him over that edge. Montgomerie blocked a couple, then took a swing and declared that America's Ryder Cup captain had already put his team one down.

Montgomerie was astonished that Pavin had put two rookies out in the anchor position while omitting Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan.

He was surprised that Pavin had "hidden" Tiger Woods in the third match, the first time since Brookline in 1999 that he had not led out when he has been in America's team. Montgomerie was beside himself with glee that Pavin had forgotten Stewart Cink when announcing his team at the opening ceremony.

It was a fearful gaffe, prompted by Pavin's reliance on the autocue, but Montgomerie just had to rub it in by reminding everyone that Cink is a former "British Open champion".

Just how could Pavin forget a man of such stature was the unspoken question. At times Montgomerie makes the Duke of Edinburgh look like a world leader in international relations. He concluded: "It was a first-class show up there and, yes, we are one up."

The last man to make a hash of introducing one of his players was Nick Faldo, a portent of his mistakes to come. Pavin has not yet been whipped like Hal Sutton, the captain who infamously paired Woods and Phil Mickelson, but the American media are already camped on his lawn.

They wanted to know why Furyk, the winner of the FedEx Cup on Sunday, was not starting. They wanted to know why Mahan, unbeaten in his five matches two years ago, was not starting.

The common prediction about the opening series of matches is that Europe will lead 3-1 by morning's end. But if America can make a powerful start then the players can still save their captain from himself. The key to it all is the first game, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer against Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.

No one criticised Pavin for this pairing. Mickelson and Johnson bet against each other in practice rounds and are both coached by Butch Harmon.

Their coach criticised Nick Faldo's speech two years ago by saying: "Nick fancies himself as a comedian and he's not funny." What must he have made of Pavin?

Harmon's men sounded laid back enough at the prospect of going out first this morning, but then Johnson spoke with the same languor before his calamitous final round at the US Open.

Johnson said on Thursday night: "Me and Phil like playing together and get along great and bring a lot of energy." If Westwood and Kaymer can drain that energy, then America just might start feeling sorry for themselves.

Westwood acknowledged that he had lobbied to hit Europe's opening shot and Montgomerie felt that it was "only right" to grant his request. Westwood also had a little dig at Mickelson by saying: "We have had good matches in the past and he has played with Tiger when we beat them."

That was a reference to the day in 2004 when Mickelson hit his tee shot on the final hole against the fence and Woods just stared at his partner with disdain.

There was a lot of one-upmanship about, although no one wanted to tweak Tiger's tail. Montgomerie said: "I think it's good that Rory can get a game under his belt without Tiger. I'm glad they're not playing each other on the first morning so Rory can find out what this Ryder Cup's all about and have time to settle in."

There was a feeling that Pavin had put Woods out in the third match in the hope of meeting McIlroy, but had guessed wrong. Instead Woods and Steve Stricker will play Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher. Montgomerie said: "It's perfect the match-up against the best player who ever played." Poulter said: "It's going to be noisy, let's give them what they want."

The bubbliest pairing last night was Graeme McDowell and McIlroy. McDowell said that he probably would not hit his opening tee shot with a Rory wig on. McIlroy boasted that he himself had hit a pretty good one wearing one. McDowell said: "You've still got it on."

All good knockabout stuff, but there is a slight worry about putting the Northern Irishmen out second. They like to play fast and loose and the only match they lost at last year's Vivendi was when they did not go out first. Montgomerie acknowledged it was his one tough decision.

He also said that he had received a good luck text from Sir Alex Ferguson, "whom I admire and respect immensely". It was surely pithy, but maybe not as smooth as the words of Jose Barosso, the president of the European Commission.

Barosso said, in an alien language: "The European flag features 12 stars, so too does Colin Montgomerie's team. As you'd expect, I very much hope to see him holding the golden chalice on Sunday night."